


Letter A: Abandonment Issues

by authorangelita (angel)



Series: Fic Alphabet Challenge: Teen Wolf [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Alternate Universe, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Senior year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 09:38:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6233581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel/pseuds/authorangelita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is trying to decide on a college – Derek is trying to come to terms with everyone leaving Beacon Hills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letter A: Abandonment Issues

**Author's Note:**

> I've been doing a Fic Alphabet Challenge on [my Tumblr](http://authorangelita.tumblr.com/), and I thought I'd start cross-posting the ficlets.

Derek grabbed his groceries out of the back of FJ Cruiser and took note of the Jeep parked in the Visitor space near his own parking spot. The Sheriff was working the night shift this week, so Stiles had been coming over for dinner the last couple of nights. They'd been spending more time together lately, maybe feeling out the possibility of a relationship or maybe just because they were both lonely with the rest of the pack paired off or busy with work and family obligations. 

When Derek slid open the loft door, Stiles looked up from the table and gave a little wave. "Hope you don't mind that I let myself in. You weren’t here, and I need a place to-" He gestured to the pamphlets and papers strewn across the table where Derek usually ate dinner. 

Derek shrugged and asked, "What's all that?"

"College info and applications." Stiles ran his fingers through his hair, leaving it in haphazard spikes as he looked back down at the mess. "I have no idea what I'm doing, man."

"Give me a minute." Derek headed into the kitchen and put away everything he'd bought. Then, he set a pot of water on the stove to boil for spaghetti before he joined Stiles. The first thing he noticed was that none of the colleges were in Beacon Hills or even nearby Sacramento.

"This," Stiles waved a hand over the large pile on the right side of the table, "is all the possibilities outside of California. Penn, Stonehill, Loyola, UT Dallas, etc for the criminology programs. Harvard, Columbia, UVA, Duke, NYU, etc for law, if I want to go that route instead."

Derek didn't comment, but he noted that all of them were pretty damn far from Beacon Hills. Stiles didn't seem particularly excited about any of them. There was little more than anxiety and frustration rolling off of him as he spoke their names.

"And this pile," Stiles pointed to the somewhat smaller stack on the left, "is everything in-state. Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, most of the UCs actually. Unless I get some really great scholarships for the right half of the table, or, uh, the left side too, I guess, they're all pretty much out. " His fingers trembled as he reached for one of the UC pamphlets. There was a lot of uncertainty behind his words and body language. "I don't know why I'm even looking at all of these."

Derek put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "You have pretty good grades, right? You have a shot at getting into any of these schools."

Stiles laughed mirthlessly. "My only extracurricular activity is lacrosse benchwarmer. Unfortunately, 'saving my home town from monsters every week' isn't something I can put on an application." He leaned closer to Derek and sighed. "My grades are good, but Lydia has a lock on valedictorian."

"So? That doesn't mean your grades aren't good enough to get you a scholarship to Stanford or something."

"No offense, but the whole college thing has changed a little since your day."

Derek huffed an indignant noise.

"Hey, I'm just speaking the truth, big guy. It's a competitive world out there, especially for financial aid. Lydia has a list of extracurriculars and volunteer work longer than my arm. I don't know when she found the time, but she could have her choice of schools probably. I think she's going to go to MIT, but she won't confirm that to anyone."

While Stiles rambled about Lydia's college aspirations, Derek moved back into the kitchen and dropped the pasta noodles into the boiling water. He also dumped a package of pre-cooked hamburger and a jar of spaghetti sauce into a pan to heat up too. Cooking gave him a few minutes to get his own feelings under control. 

He'd been bracing himself for this since the pack's senior year began. Beacon Hills was a small town, and Derek knew better than anyone that metaphorical wings needed to be stretched. Stiles, Scott, Lydia, all of them. They needed to go out and experience the world and all of its complicated agonies and pleasures for themselves. However, knowing all of that didn't make it any easier to stomach. 

The worst thing was that there was no way to protect them out there. Hell, Derek hadn't even been able to protect his own family in his own home. He didn't know why he expected to be able to protect his pack when they were all over the country for school.

Derek didn't realize that he'd been squeezing the spoon he was using to stir the meat sauce until he looked down and saw the metal twisted into the rough shape of his hand. 

"Derek?" Stiles' voice was hesitant as he moved into the kitchen area too. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course."

Stiles stepped closer and pointed at the spoon. "Then why did you personalize that with your own handprint?"

Derek sighed and tossed the utensil into the trash can. "I was thinking."

"About?"

"You. Scott. The pack. Going to college. Far away." Derek couldn't seem to get out a full sentence. He took a deep breath and kept his back to Stiles until he felt like he was in control of himself.

"Oh."

"Look, it's not a bad thing. You guys need to get out of Beacon Hills. It's just so hard to keep everyone safe when you're all in different places. I'm sure Deaton will give you guys something for protection. And you can set up a mountain ash barrier in your dorm room around your bed. Just tell your roommate that it's a science experiment or something."

Stiles was silent for a long moment before he reached into the utensil drawer and pulled out a new spoon, which he handed over to Derek. "Scott and I were talking about maybe going to BHCC. We could live at home and commute for a year or two, and then we could see about transferring to different colleges for our actual degrees. BHCC is totally do-able, money-wise, and it's here, which is also good. To be honest, I don't really want to leave my dad, but he's pushing me to consider all of my options. He doesn't want me to feel obligated to stay because of him, but I think I would worry too much if I were very far away. I don't know. There's a lot to think about."

Derek nodded along with Stiles' ramblings until the younger man petered out. He breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to squeeze Stiles' wrist. "Yeah, I imagine there is. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're considering BHCC. I think you should go wherever you want to go, but it would be nice if you were able to stay close for a while longer."

Stiles smiled softly while knocking his shoulder against Derek's. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, clearly deciding what he should say. Finally, he just asked, "When's dinner going to be ready? I'm starving."

~End


End file.
